Industry news

The Government has given a deadline of autumn 2015 for delivery of smart metering services across the UK by energy companies.

Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said: "By autumn 2015 we expect all major energy suppliers to offer smart metering services”.

She added that the complete rollout should be finalised by 2020, with the program being advertised as a transformational enabler for customers, in changing how they manage their energy usage.

Currently over 100,000 smart meters have been installed, with the expected figure to rise to over 53 million at the end of the project.

Bidders submit offers for UK smart meter rollout

British Gas award £600 million contract to smart meter manufacturer

Fiat appears to have gained ground in negotiation to buy by shares in the Chrysler Group.

Sources close to a valuation of Chrysler, have reported to Bloomberg that the company has been valued at $10 billion, which comes in under original expectations.

Fiat is looking to acquire holdings held by the United Auto Workers (UAW), with the rumoured valuation making these holdings now worth $4.15 billion.

The UAW will now have to decide on whether it will sell to Fiat or move to bidding out to a public offering.

Fiat saw its stock rise by 1.4 per cent at the end of trading last week in Milan, with the company having gained 57 per cent this year.

To celebrate the winners and finalists of The National Outsourcing Association Awards (NOAAs) which took place in late October, we are delighted to share their recognised case studies in the below e-book.

Inside you will find write-ups of the submissions that span across 19 award categories and feature companies such as Xchanging, HMRC, Virgin Media, Infosys, Sitel, Legal & General and many more. The supplement also showcases emerging outsourcing destinations, the best projects by sector and individuals who continue to contribute and dedicate themselves to the outsourcing industry.

Please click here to gain access to the supplement and learn from some of the best and brightest in the sourcing industry.

Three London councils have signed outsourcing contracts for the provision of library and leisure services in the search for savings.

Brent, Ealing and Harrow councils have signed contracts to outsource library, sports and leisure services, with John Laing Integrated Services.

The decision to outsource the services came after plans to create trusts to run them was rejected in favour of putting the service management out for market tender, due to the markets advantage in providing greater competitive pricing.

London council budgets are currently being squeezed, with departments under pressure to create savings, Ealing council alone is looking to achieve a savings target of around £250 million over the 2014/2015 period.

Wales launches National Procurement Service

Public sector procurement facing ‘crisis of confidence’

A survey of NHS heads, commissioned by Perceptive Software, has revealed that the majority of trust heads expect additional government funding in order to meet paperless targets by 2018.

The survey revealed that 80 per cent of heads expected some funding from the government while 60 per cent expected complete funding for the transformation project.

The survey also found a disparity between heads of trusts and IT decision makers, with 54 per cent of the heads of trusts saying they believed the paperless target of 2018 was a realistic goal, compared to less than a fifth of IT decision makers.

NHS trust moves to develop SME procurement framework

Jeremy Stafford, CEO of Serco is to step down as head of Serco operations in UK and Europe.

The announcement comes after a criminal investigation was launched against Serco over allegations of fraud surrounding the delivery of tagging services to the Ministry of Justice.

Stafford will be replaced on a short-term basis by UK and Europe Chief Operating Officer Andrew White.

The resignation of the Serco CEO comes as the outsourcing giant seeks to repair its relationship with the government following the tagging fallout, with Serco banned from any future public sector contracts until the results of a Cabinet Office review are heard.

The European Parliament has approved funding of €7 billion for the development of satellite navigation programs.

The funding will provide resources for projects between 2014 and 2020, with the development of satellite navigation programs by the EU providing significant economic opportunities for businesses as well increased overall accuracy for satellite users.

The satellite programs project is, according to Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani, is expected to deliver around €90 billion to the European economy over the next 20 years.

Dell has revealed that it is to bring its Centre for Entrepreneurs initiative to the UK.

The Centre which has already had success in the U.S., will offer start-ups with £20 million in funding for technology, expert advice and infrastructure services, from the computer giant.

The initiative will also offer two companies the chance to be based in Dell’s Berkshire campus, with free storage, services and hardware for a year.

The initiative and mentoring model allows Dell to create close links with up and coming businesses, linking the computer giant with future market leaders while establishing links with organisations at a very early stage.

Tim Griffin, Dell UK VP and managing director, said: "We believe that technology is a necessary part of growing a thriving business and strive to help entrepreneurs leverage technology to take ideas from start-up to success”.

Shareholders approve Dell buyout

The Indian IT sector is expected to reach a value of $86 billion by the end of this fiscal year, according to Nasscom, with the countries IT industry enjoying rapid growth from in-demand IT exports.

Strong financial results for the first two quarters of this year have led to predictions of a 12-14 per cent rise in growth, compared with 2012.

A rise in use of social media, desire for increased flexibility including remote working and global expansion have all contributed to a good year for India’s IT industry.

Growth has also been driven by the increasing use of SMEs in place of large enterprise businesses.

The IT industry also saw an increase in new employment, with 200,000 new staff employed over last year.

Wipro announce strong Q2 results with 28% net growth

TCS posts strong profit growth as Indian outsourcers enjoy U.S. revival

Paul Pindar, Capita’s chief executive, was criticised during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after he suggested that reduced manpower levels in the Army was due to a lack of on-going conflict.

Mr Pindar said: “We have the disadvantage that we actually have no wars on,” adding that ““Soldiers like to join the Army when they actually have something to do.” Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee, described the comments as “awful”.

MP Richard Bacon, said that he was “doubtful” of the explanation, pointing to the negative contrast between online applications and past practices involving armed forces personal in recruitment offices.

The PAC was held to discuss the reduction in recruitment since Capita took charge of advertising, marketing and application forms.

Capita shares drop following the departure of CEO

Capita awarded nine-year IT contract with Croydon Council